Dave Burns of Mount Hermon is a pop vocalist who has an incredible ability to reach out and transform others with his music. He has been captivating audiences for almost 40 years.
His parents, Phil and Ruth Burns, saw a natural talent in their son at 5. A formal study of music began in the form of classical piano lessons when Burns, now 60, was 7 years old.
“My dad was adamant when I wanted to quit, saying, ‘As long as you live under this roof, you will take piano lessons, and you will thank me someday.’ He was right. However, I had my own concept of music and how I wanted to play,” Burns said.
Born in 1950, he was raised in Los Altos and was the oldest of five children. Burns attended Foothill Junior College, where he studied music and business. Besides piano, he learned to play keyboard instruments and the guitar.
In the late 1960s and early ’70s, Burns got into rock ’n’ roll, funk and soul, rhythm and blues, folk and jazz.
“I was captivated by the music scene in San Francisco,” he said. “It was so prolific and cutting edge. I loved it all.”
Burns went into full-time music on the road in 1972, playing and singing as part of a power trio called Burns, Renwick and Rags. He also endorsed keyboards and synthesizers and was featured in such magazines as Rolling Stone.
Some of the artists who influenced Burns’ music were Oscar Peterson, Chick Correa, Chester Thompson and the late Jimmy Smith. He played with musicians from popular groups such as Tower of Power, Santana, Peter, Paul and Mary, and Vince Guaraldi. R&B artist Mike Renwick ended up being the single biggest influence, musically, in Burn’s life, he said.
“This was a listening and learning time as I moved toward playing professionally. I would plagiarize other people’s playing and incorporate it into my own style,” he said. “I still do this.”
After his marriage to Terri Bozzini in the San Jose area in 1979, Burns decided to change his lifestyle: get off the road, settle down and raise a family. The couple had two sons and a daughter.
“I’ve watched so many others who were on the road lose their families to drugs and playing around. Been there and done that,” he said. “Terri and I both came to our Christian faith following this decision. It was very personal. We found ourselves being transformed — more focused on our life purpose.”
Several years later, Burns took a job as a worship pastor in San Ramon. In 1995, he was called to serve at a church in Littleton, Colo. It turned out that his church would be heavily involved in the aftermath of the Columbine High School shooting in April 1999. Burns ministered to families and led memorial services for several church members.
“You have to make a conscious decision: Do you allow a tragedy like this to consume you or shape you?” Burns said.
A more personal tragedy hit in January 2001. Shortly after the couple had moved to San Clemente for another church position, Terri was diagnosed with breast cancer. She died three years later.
“It’s that apprehension that made it so difficult,” Burns said. “I’m grateful that she hung on long enough to see our oldest son get married and our youngest graduate high school.”
A year later, Burns visited Mount Hermon Christian Conference Center to help lead a conference. His daughter introduced him to Leslie Cooper, a guidance counselor at San Lorenzo Valley High School, and they eventually married in 2006.
Ten months after his first visit, Burns was offered a job as resident musician and director of adult ministries at the conference center.
“I had to uproot, leave everything behind and move to Mount Hermon,” he said. “My life totally changed. We now have a blended family of eight children.
Today, he is passionate about his involvement in a new ministry, in which military families are invited for a week’s stay at Mount Hermon.
Meanwhile, he continues playing gigs and has two coming up this month: Dec. 21 at Don Quixote’s International Music Hall in Felton and on New Year’s Eve at Scopazzi’s in Boulder Creek.
Burns also serves on the worship team at Twin Lakes Church in Aptos.
“I love being with people, working at Mount Hermon and living in such a beautiful area,” he said. “I’ve been blessed.”
Sandi Olson of Scotts Valley is a writer, speaker and teacher. She writes about interesting people in Scotts Valley and the San Lorenzo Valley. Email her at
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